If You Want To Be Recruited – Get Good Grades!

No matter where you want to go to college and play your sport, good grades can improve your chances at getting recruited.  If you are the Number One Top-Ranked recruit in the country, or a coach’s very top number one recruit, he/she may be able to ask admissions to take a second and third look at admitting you - even if you have a lower than required GPA.  But if you’re not that top recruit, let’s say you’re number five on his list of ten; a great GPA might help you jump in front of other applicants.

Understand that every point in your GPA opens more doors – for example going from a 3.3 to a 3.5 cumulative GPA may make the difference between going to your ‘safety’ college and getting into your dream school. Grades count starting in 9^th grade, and semester grades count – not just year-end final grades.  I’ve had parents misunderstand that, and focus exclusively on year-end grades only to find that their student’s cumulative GPA was lower than they thought because of low mid-term or mid-year grades.

If your dream is to study and play your sport at a Division I Athletic and Academic powerhouse, your high school grades and your cumulative grade point can quickly put you on, or yank you off a coach’s list of recruits.   For example, if you want to go to an Ivy League school and play your sport, the coach there has a pretty clear idea what GPA a prospective student/athlete needs to get through admissions.  Every college admissions process is unique, and every coach/sport at a school has a variable amount of “clout” with admissions.  As soon as the coach sees your GPA and your standardized test scores, he/she will immediately get a feel for your chances of attending that college.

If, early in the process, for example during your sophomore year, you are lucky enough to get a quick meeting with a coach on a college campus when you visit, you might ask the coach “what can I do to enhance my chances of going to this college?” The coach at a top academic college is going to say, “Keep your grades up.” I’ve heard coaches say this to young student athletes many times.   

Set yourself up for success. Study hard, take challenging classes, and try to get A’s.  It can only help you in the recruiting process and college admissions.